Sleeping
by Simply Paranoia
Summary: Dreams can come close to becoming a reality.


This story is for JustYourAverageWitch for the Secret Santa Competition. It is very late, which I am sorry for. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

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><p><em>Sleeping<em>

Snow was falling outside the window silently, without worry, without care. It was shining outside the Gryffindor Common room window, falling in its mist in the dark of the moon.

Hermione Granger looked outside of her own window, staring out in the cold. Immediately, she noticed a boy standing in solitude next to the frozen-over Black Lake. His hair was messy and they were black locks. From what she could tell, he was in Slytherin robes. He was unfamiliar, and his presence drove her insane. She continued to stare, and he stayed unmoving, making her wonder if he was alive or not. Her need to see him was too great to deny.

She could not handle it any longer; time was ticking, so she pulled on her coat and snuck out of the Gryffindor girls' dorm room. She opened the Fat Lady's portrait, and then as she turned around she saw her snoring. She sighed in relief, and she tiptoed away. The hallways were dark and empty, without a shadow of a being around. Hermione hurried towards the Grand Staircase, in her desperation to reach the Black Lake before the mysterious figure disappeared forever.

She arrived at the landing and the stairs were moving towards it. It felt like the stairs were inching towards her in the pace of a snail in her anxiety. Finally the staircase arrived and she raced onto it. Her feet pitter-pattered down the many stairs.

Eventually she reached the ground floor, and snuck towards the main entrance, with her ears carefully trained on hearing others like Argus Filch, and his cat, Mrs. Norris.

Suddenly she heard footsteps which made her freeze in her path. Her ears perked to hear more, and she heard the steps coming towards her.

"What are you doing, Granger?" It snapped and she turned and saw Draco Malfoy coming towards her sipping a butterbeer.

"It's none of your concern, Malfoy," she rebuffed.

"Is it?" He asked coming right towards her, until he was about a half-foot away. Hermione's heart pounded furiously.

"Just leave," Hermione ordered and Draco shrugged and stepped away from her.

"Fine, Granger!" Draco shouted as he left, making Hermione fear someone will hear them. She scoffed at his dramatic exit.

Then, she opened the creaking doors and rushed outside feeling the cold breeze take over her body. She shivered in the wind, but still bolted out the door and ran straight towards the Black Lake as fast as her small feet could carry her.

As she ran her breaths hitched as a mist escaped her mouth with every outtake of air. She ran the corner, and she finally arrived near the Black Lake. The mysterious figure still stood in the same spot, and the same exact position.

"Hello?" Hermione called out cautiously. The figure turned and his eyes made contact with her own, making her gasp and her stomach jump.

"Hi," He replied sweetly and almost started to laugh, "Are you scared?"

"Uh, no, I'm not," Hermione said while brushing her clothes nervously.

"Well, anyway I'm Regulus Black," he greeted reaching his arm out while taking steps towards her. She stepped towards him and shook his hand.

"I'm Hermione, and did you say Black?" Hermione asked, thinking of passed, Sirius Black, and her throat involuntarily swelled a bit.

"Yes I did. Is something wrong with that?"

"No, not at all," She responded quickly. She took notice that he was wearing a Slytherin uniform, but she had never seen him before, and he looked around her age, "How come I've never seen you before?"

"I don't know," Regulus said flatly and he turned to look at the lake again.

"Is something wrong?" Hermione asked him tentatively.

"Yes, everything," he said quietly without looking at her. Suddenly his image swirled in front of her, and her eyes widened in fear.

He was gone….

And she woke up

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><p>The next morning Hermione was in shock. Her dream had felt so real, she hoped that Regulus was real, and she simply forgot she only dreamed of him.<p>

She asked so many people if they knew a Regulus Black, and everyone sadly said no.

She had caught Draco's eye during the day and suddenly remembered that he was in her dream too. He was staring at her, or that may just be her dream affecting her mind.

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><p>Those ice skates mocked her. They sat before her in the Gryffindor Common Room, right in front of the roaring fire. They were exactly the way she remembered them, dirty and torn. They were once an elegant white, but turned dirtier the more she had skated when she was little. They made her feet hurt and her toes blister, and she had loved it.<p>

"Throw them out," a familiar voice commanded behind her. Her stomach and heart jumped in shock and feeble terror. She turned around and saw that it was just Regulus, and she relaxed.

"Why?" Hermione asked softly, staring once again at the ice skates. Yet, he disappeared before her eyes, and she jumped in shock.

Then she quickly tossed away the ice skates, forevermore.

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><p>"Granger," A boy's voice spoke near her ear. She became startled and jumped a little in her seat in the library. She turned and was immediately face to face with the platinum blonde, Draco Malfoy.<p>

"What?" She questioned.

He took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry."

Hermione's eyebrows creased and she said in almost a whisper, "For what?"

"Everything," he responded and walked away, leaving the library.

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><p>"Dance with me," the smooth voice ordered.<p>

Hermione blinked her eyes and she was staring at Regulus once again. She looked down and she was in a periwinkle-blue dress. It was exactly like the once she wore to the Yule Ball in fourth year. She felt her head, and her hair was exactly the same from that night. She looked around and everything was the same from the Yule Ball. Harry and Ron were even sulking at a table with the Patil twins. _Except, Viktor Krum was not here. _

Regulus looked at her with his dark eyes and snatched her hands in his own. He then gently placed her hands in the normal waltz position and the smooth, beautiful, classical music began playing.

He waltzed with her in the three step beat and she looked at him curiously as his eyes bore into her own.

"Why do you keep coming to me?" Hermione finally asked of him. His eyebrow's creased a little bit and he took in a deep breath.

"Because I have to," he responded.

Hermione sighed and said again, "Why?"

"You won't believe it," he teased and flicked his finger on her nose, driving her insane.

"Tell me," she ordered, "Is this real?"

"Yes and no," he replied.

"How?"

"You are dreaming, but me being here is supposedly real," he responded.

"What do you mean by that?" She questioned.

"Yes, but you are controlling fully what you are saying and I'm here, when I shouldn't be," he said simply.

Hermione closed her eyes for a second and exhaled a breath, and said," Why are you here?"

"Because I have to," he responded again.

"Why!" she exclaimed very loudly, and the whole ballroom turned to stare at the two, and Hermione's cheeks flushed.

Regulus sighed and shook his head a little and brought his lips up against her ear and whispered, "Because we have to be together, even if not in true life."

She looked at him and out of the blue he grabbed her face and kissed it softly. It was as though sparks were blowing everywhere during the kiss, and Hermione kissed back. It seemed to her that this was meant to be, her and Regulus. The whole ballroom cheered unexpectedly.

Regulus pulled back, and once again everything swiveled and disappeared.

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><p>"Her-my-own-nee," Ron groaned as he stirred a bit in his Hospital Wing bed. The room's eyes widened and Lavender Brown began crying and stormed away. Hermione held back her victory smile and she clutched Ron's unconscious hand. Yet, she could not help but think of that Regulus Black and that she and Ron might not be soul mates.<p>

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><p>The years went by and Hermione and Ron got married, and Molly Weasley was ecstatic. Hermione wore an elegant wedding gown and she made her bridesmaids wear periwinkle-blue dresses.<p>

The wedding went by smoothly and Ron and she finally exchanged their wedding vows and shared their kiss. As she kissed him, she thought of her only kiss with Regulus Black, who consistently appeared in her dreams every night, even though she was with Ron. The kiss with Regulus was magical, but Ron's was lesser.

Regulus never kissed her again, but they simply talked. Yet, she could see the pain always lurking inside Regulus' eyes during every dream.


End file.
